The River Shannon and Lough Derg form the eastern boundary
of County Clare. On the west is the wonderfully varied Atlantic coast,
with mighty cliffs, caverns and sandy bays. To the north this rugged coast
rises nearly 700 feet above the sea in the sheer Cliffs of Moher; here
also is the amazing limestone district called the Burren, with its many
caves, underground streams and rare flora. On the south is the broad Shannon
estuary, where Ireland's greatest river meets the sea.

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bed and breakfast country inns ireland travel

THE BURREN

The thing about the Burren is that it is not obvious.
It's not like the Taj Mahal or the Grand Canyon or Ayer's Rock. You could
be standing in the middle of it and asking the locals where it is. This
has happened. Let's face it, grey stone, green fields and cows is basically
what Ireland is to some people, and if you don't do your homework, you
too could cycle or drive the length and breadth of the place and feel
like you never really saw it. But the homework isn't difficult and you
can start right here. The Burren is an amazing place. It is a karst limestone
region of approximately 300 sq km which lies in the north west corner
of Co Clare, in Ireland. It is composed of limestone pavements, which
are eroded in a distinctive pattern known as karren. This pavement is
crisscrossed by cracks known as grykes and underneath the pavement there
are huge caves and rivers that suddenly flood when it rains. It contains
dozens of megalithic tombs and celtic crosses and a ruined Cistercian
Abbey from the 12th century, Corcomroe.You can find villages abandoned
from famine times and green roads on which you can walk for miles without
ever seeing a car . And if you go in springtime you will find rare wildflowers
such as gentian and orchids and bloody cranesbill.

The north-west corner of Co.Clare is one of the
most interesting and striking landscapes in Europe. It is an area of naked
sheets of limestone running into the sea as low cliffs on rocky shorelines
, and re-appears as the three Aran Islands at the mouth of Galway Bay.
The Burren is interesting from the points of view of geology , archaeology
, and botany , as well as being strikingly beautiful in it's bareness.

The Cromwellian general who remarked that there
was not a tree on which to hang a man , or enough water to drown him ,
or enough soil to bury him , was in fact catching the 'feel' of the Burren
in a sentence. Modern visitors are less bloodthirsty , and come for the
walking , sea-angling , photography and caving that make this corner of
Ireland such an attraction. There is so much to the Burren that it could
easily sustain a web-site all to itself.

A karst landscape is a limestone region which
exhibits many different features , due to chemical and physical weathering
and denudation. Denudation is the removal of soils and vegetation from
the rock surface leaving large sheets of bare rock. The limestone present
in the karst region is carboniferous limestone. This means that the limestone
present consists essentially of calcium carbonate. Structure The bedding
planes and joints make the rock very vulnerable to weathering as the rock
is pervious , and because of this , water can seep through the joints
and bedding planes. As limestone is essentially composed of calcium carbonate
, and as calcium carbonate is soluble , it is vulnerable to a chemical
weathering process known as carbonation. In this process rainwater absorbs
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and thus forms carbonic acid. This
acid reacts with the calcium carbonate in the limestone and converts the
calcium carbonate into calcium bicarbonate which is removed in the solution
, causing erosion. (Other cause of chemical erosion would be by acidic
rain or organic life in soils , if present.) The water that carries the
calcium bicarbonate seeps and percolates underground and the carbonation
process is renewed. When evaporation occurs , calcium carbonate is deposited
on the walls and ceilings of underground caverns or caves which themselves
are created by carbonation and roof collapse , resulting in features such
as stalagmites , stalagtites , dripstones and pillars occuring

bed and breakfast country inns ireland travel

AILLWEE CAVES

bed and breakfast country inns ireland travel

The story of Aillwee Cave began millions of years
ago when streams sinking underground on Aillwee Mountain started dissolving
channels through the lines of weakness in the limestone. About one million
years ago the ice age began and from then until fifteen thousand years
ago Ireland's climate alternated between artic coldness and warmer periods,
freezing and melting, freezing and melting over the centuries. This melting
water roared and crashed it's way through an underground channel greatly
enlarging the passage and bringing with it large quantities of sand and
silts which are still present in the inner cave today. Aillwee is one
of the most ancient caves in the Burren and perhaps in Ireland.

BUNRATTY

It is hard to believe, looking at the quiet little
village of Bunratty, that under the village, and the surrounding fields,
roads and houses, lie buried the remains of a once flourishing town, centuries
of settlement, battles, deeds......and stories. Of the glory of those
far off days, what remains is Bunratty Castle, one of the finest tower
houses still standing in Ireland.

The castle has had a dramatic and bloody history.
Its strategic position on the River Shannon always attracted interest
and envy from unfriendly quarters. It changed hands many times, usually
violently, during the periods of friction between the native Irish of
Thomond and the Norman and Norman-Irish intruders. The castle has been
destroyed at least eight or nine times and it has seen many bloody murders.
Today, however, there is little evidence of all this death and destruction.

The castle stands peacefully in delightful grounds,
the hiuses and cottages at Bunratty Folk Park spread out at the foot of
its massive walls, much in the way that cottages and crofts of old would
have clustered around its base. The modern visitor to Bunratty Castle
approaches along a section of ancient paved road, across the remains of
a moat which once surronded the castle, and through a door in the 'bawn'
wall into the courtyard, before mounting steps to a drawbridge. Bunratty
Folk Park offers a glimpse of an entirely different era. The buildings
and atmosphere date from around the year 1900, when the influence of the
towns was just begining to percolate through to rural communities. This
was a time when news of the horseless carriage had reached the countryside;
electricity was known in the town, as was the telephone - although only
in large government departments and big businesses - but the new technological
revolution had not noticeably affected country life.

Bunratty is alive at night as much as during the
day, when Bunratty Castle plays host to the world famous Mediaeval banquets,
now in their 34th year, and the Folk Park's barn hosts Traditional Irish
Ceili. Elsewhere in the village, you may enjoy one of the local bars.
Durty Nellies, known throughout the world, is beside the castle, while
the recreated pub of the Folk Park, McNamara's, is open at night. The
Fitzpatrick Bunratty Shamrock Hotel's bar is also a very popular local
pub where many a good story is told.

CLIFFS OF MOHER

For millions of years afterwards sand and mud were
washed on top of them and these sediments formed shale and flagstones,
which can be best seen at the cliffs of Moher, where they plunge 700 feet
to the sea and extend for five miles.Not technically part of the Burren,
but close enough to be included.

There aren't many birds to be seen at the Cliffs
in winter, but come springtime you can see thousands of guillemots, kittiwakes,
fulmars and shags.

The catamaran which sails from Liscannor during
the summer does a sunset tour under the Cliffs, which gives you a great
vantage point from the sea.

There is an excellent visitors centre at the cliffs
which is open year round .